Image courtesy of Prevention

 The claim: Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish--notably DHA--have been linked to all kinds of mellowing health benefits: They reduce arterial plaque, lower triglycerides, and help shield you from heart disease. And now new research shows they might also affect the quality of your zzz's.


The research: Though studies on sleep and omega-3s are scarce, some have shown that higher levels of omega-3s are associated with fewer sleep problems in children and adults. DHA has also been linked to reduced severity of sleep apnea.


In this latest study from Oxford University, researchers studied the effect of daily 600 mg DHA omega-3 supplementation (or placebo supplementation) in a sample of 395 children ages 7 to 9. After about four months of popping either fish oil pills or placebos, children who took omega-3s slept nearly an hour longer each night, with fewer disturbances.


What it means: This is what study author Paul Montgomery, professor of psycho-social intervention at University of Oxford, thinks is going on: DHA helps release melatonin, that elusive hormone that gets you to sleep. "In turn, that helped with the onset of sleep and the stabilization of it," he says. Melatonin levels change throughout the lifecycle, but omega-3s appear to help normalize that shift.


The bottom line: The jury's out on whether these impressive results would hold for adults--"Someone should come along and give me a nice little pot of money to test it out," Montgomery laughs--but his hunch is that they would. All kinds of evidence points to a connection between omega-3s and sleep, including the fact that omega-3s can improve depression and anxiety in adults. "Core features of both depression and anxiety are sleep problems, and it wouldn't surprise me if these things were linked," he says.